>Meanwhile, I don't think I agree that this is merely an effort to legitimate
>Wall Street.
Not just the prosecution of MS, but the prosecution of "insider trading" itself. To preserve the legitimacy of the securities markets, it's essential the public believe in the proverbial level playing field, which is ludicrous. Not only do insiders know more than amateurs, the whole profit system is rigged so that those on top make money from those below them. Prosecuting insider trading is all about evoking that paradise of free and equal exchange - the world of liberty, equality, and Bentham, as the Old Man said - which doesn't exist anywhere but in fantasy.
Doug